I'm considering purchasing a quad 1500 but I'm not sure which bed to purchase. I like the added room of the 8ft bed not to mention I can carry 4x8 plywood with the tailgate closed. Is the quad with the 8ft as long as a Suburban or longer? Are there reasons not to purchase this combination?

Thanks,
Brian

 

It all depends on what else you would use it for. I briefly considered going with an 8-foot bed as well for the same reason, but when I gave it some serious consideration, I knew it would be a mistake. How often will you actually haul stuff with it, and how much will you haul when you do? Planning to plow or tow a trailer? (I use mine for both, which is why I decided against the extra length of the 8' bed.) Will you be parking in any garages or parking lots on a regular basis that will make it a real pain to park and manuver? How much heavy traffic do you drive in? All are things to be considered.

 

I have the quad cab with the 6 ft bed. If you want to get a 8 ft sheet of plywood you can still put it in a 6 ft bed. It'll just stick out 2 ft.. I do it all the time and I have a lid on mine.

 

Yeah. That's what I do. It also works as a redneck spoiler/wing like that.

[sm=joke.gif]

 

They're good if you need to space. But they take a damn Football field to turn around.

 

Kinda comes down to "if ya need the 8ft space, get the 8 ft bed". I have the 8ft Q/C and sometimes I wonder if there is any other P/U or SUV on the road longer (I don't think so). But, I have been glad repeatedly becuase of the extra space. From full sheets of plywood to mowing equipment, I fill my truck, especially in the summer. Yeah, it is a pain to manuever sometimes but I wouldn't have less.

Jim

 

I agree that the 8' is nice for the plywood issue, but I've got to say my QC with the 6' bed is like a bull in a china shop in parking lots. If you get the 8' plan on getting used to parking in the last row in the lot. Even if you do get it in after 3 tries, it'll stick out farther than you'll want. Just park in the back and take up 2 spaces...that's what I end up doing with mine anyway (and I'm usually not alone)

 

I have a 2002 1500 QC with the 6' bed.

I was also looking at the 8' bed at the time.

My job is an office job. I also renovated my kitchen. For handling sheetrock of plywood, I put the tailgate down and voila! I have an 8 foot long area for those pieces of wood.

It all depends on the driving and what kind of area you will be in.

Remember that to get the additional 2 feet, they move the rear wheels BACK 2 feet, increasing your wheel base.

If you go to a local mall, I can EASILY make a right turn and go up and over the curb on the passenger side if you don't "swing wide".

I can't imagine what the heck it's like with a 8 foot bed, it would just be that much worse.

So, again, my opinion is that if you are IN construction as a JOB, then get the 8' bed.

If you just want a 1500 truck and might bring home some 4*8 sheets of material on OCCASSION, like maybe 3 times a YEAR, then I would seriously go with the 6'.

And even going to the grocery store, everyone is right in saying that you will be parking at the end of the lot, in a "pull-thru" space, taking up both spaces. If there is only 1 space, you hang out SIGNFICANTLY into the aisle.

I also BACK into nearly every driveway, parking spot, etc. It's just easier for me to do for some reason driving wise.

Here's some DATA taken off of carpoint.msn.com

A FORD TAURUS is 198 inches LONG.
A Dodge ram 1500 QC long bed is 249.7 (250)
The 6' bed is 227.7 (228) inches long.

So take a typical car, add on 30 inches (2.5 feet!) and that's the SHORT BED. Add another 21 inches or almost 2 feet onto that and you have the long one....

 

umm..yes, there is longer. Our '77 dually is bout 20 ft long from front bumper to rear trailer hitch ball and 90" wide at the fenders, 115" at the mirrors (roughly). Add 20' for the utility trailer (and a 40' rig ain short).

as for our ram, we have quad cab 6', the main influence in our purchase was since we have our dually, we'll use it for heavy trailering (10,000 lbs GVWR is a good thing), and use the ram as my dad's work truck and family hauler. Fitting wood isn't a big problem, we have a cordless cirular saw for the long stuff, but for things like corrogated metal and 16' 2x6's for our shop, we'll just hook our 16' utility trailer onto the hitch and go.